Shane Smith, cofounder and CEO of superficially hip and edgy Vice Media Inc., is made of money. He drops $300,000 on a sushi dinner, gives his (reputedly low-paid) workers $1,500 "stocking stuffers" at Christmas, and, says Variety, drops $23 million on Santa Monica Canyon compounds that have appeared on Entourage.
Before you can even enter Smith's new property, the driveway passes by a two-bedroom gatehouse—this place is that kind of glamorous. The 1932 main residence has 12 bedrooms and 12 and a half bathrooms, and features Art Deco tiles, a winding staircase, hand-painted ceilings, and stone mantels. The library has a hidden wetbar, activated "with a push of a volume laden panel."
The 3.35-acre property also includes a guesthouse with a fireplace and kitchenette, a 72-foot-pool (with adjacent one-bathroom cabana), gardens, a lily pond, and "a running brook" through the grounds. In all, the main house, guesthouse, and gatehouse total 14,000 square feet. The listing shows the price of this compound, known as Villa Ruchello, at $28.5 million, but Smith's said to have paid $23 million.
· Shane Smith Spends Big for Henry Jaglom's Villa Ruchello [Variety]